One of Andrew Berry’s best draft picks in six years with the Cleveland Browns, may never play football again.
According to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, it is “doubtful at best” that standout linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah will ever make it back to the football field. The 2021-second round pick missed all of last season due to a neck injury he suffered during a Week 8 win over the Baltimore Ravens in 2024.
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JOK sustained the ailment as he attempted to tackle bruising running back Derrick Henry on a play to the right. As he spun off a block back toward the middle of the field to corral the veteran back, a violent collision to his head via Henry’s arm caused a compression in his neck.
After the play, Owusu-Koramoah stayed down on the field for several minutes before being mobilized and carted away. In the moment, he was able to signal to the crowd that he was okay.
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The weeks after brought plenty of speculation over whether or not the Notre Dame product would ever be able to play football again, culminating in him spending this past season on Cleveland’s physically unable to perform list. He was notably around the team facility throughout the campaign, though.
Now it appears all the worst fears from the moment JOK suffered the injury will, in fact, come to fruition, and end a once-promising NFL career just before it really started taking off.
Following the 2023 season, JOK was selected for his first Pro Bowl, in what felt like the first of many appearances in the NFL’s All-Star game. Later that summer, he agreed to a three-year $39 million contract extension.
What’s most important, of course, is that JOK is physically fine to live a normal life. From a football standpoint, however, if he truly never returns to the field, Browns fans will surely have missed out on watching one of the next great defensive players in franchise history.
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This past year, Berry was quick to address any potential void at the position by selecting Carson Schwesinger with the 33rd pick in last year’s NFL Draft. Schwesinger quickly became a standout in his own right, earning the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year Award earlier this month.
Sadly, a defense featuring both Owusu-Koramoah and Schwesinger may never become a reality.
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